PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) – With summer almost here, the North Texas drought could soon get worse. So, before taking any drastic measures, the City of Plano is helping people realistically manage their water usage. The city briefed residents on Wednesday morning about a new plan to help with conservation.

Classes will be offered showing how to change your irrigation system to drip. Residents will be reminded about a rebate for having a rain sensors installed on sprinkler systems. There will be a first-ever landscaping tour event on Saturday.

This is all because, right now, Plano is under Stage 3 water restrictions. This means that homeowners and businesses can only water their lawns once every other week. Plant watering must be done by hand. It has been this way since last year.

If there is not enough rainfall in the coming summer months, and local lake levels continue to drop, Plano might have to begin enforcing Stage 4 water restrictions — where absolutely NO outdoor watering would be allowed. But, ahead of that possibility, Plano officials are encouraging folks to start practicing conservation.

One way to conserve water is to get plants native to North Texas, and make adjustments around your home, like the Nobles family did. “We also found out that you can save a lot of water by changing out the sprinkler heads,” explained Plano resident Dave Nobles. “It was very simple. You can get them at Home Depot. You unscrew the old head, screw in the new one and, instead of being the regular spray heads, there’s multistream rotating heads, and they’ll save you about a third of your water.”

At this point, there is no way of knowing whether cities like Plano will end up going to Stage 4 water restrictions by October. So, city officials are trying to educate people now, early, before it is too late.